Months of Meryl: Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004)
Thursday, August 2, 2018 at 12:31PM John and Matthew are watching every single live-action film starring Meryl Streep.
#31 —Aunt Josephine, an agoraphobic, grammar-obsessed, hermetic eccentric.
MATTHEW: Who says Meryl Streep doesn’t make movies for kids? In 2004, Streep lent her talents to Brad Silberling’s film adaptation of A Series of Unfortunate Events, Lemony Snicket’s (née Daniel Handler) acclaimed literary series that, over the course of 13 novels, chronicled the many misfortunes and menacing adventures of an orphaned trio of children...
There’s Violet (played by Emily Browning, later of Sucker Punch and Sleeping Beauty), an inventor of quick-thinking, MacGyver-like abilities; Klaus (Liam Aiken), a bookworm with an encyclopedic mind; and toddler Sunny (played by twins Kara and Shelby Hoffman), an incorrigible biter whose goo-goo-gah-gahs are given comical, subtitled meanings. When their wealthy parents perish in a bizarre house fire, the siblings are shipped off to Count Olaf, a vain stage actor who resorts to murderous means to acquire their family fortune.
But the Baudelaire children, redoubtable survivalists that they are, always manage to escape the Count’s traps with their lives intact, upon which they are shipped from guardian to guardian, one of which is Streep’s dotty and doddering Aunt Josephine.
If The River Wild and Music of the Heart are family-friendly Streep-starrers that are primarily concerned with adult conflicts then Lemony Snicket, with its teenage leads and Nickelodeon imprimatur, is the first Streep film whose storytelling sensibility is patently geared towards a younger audience. The movie is also undisguisedly a vehicle for Jim Carrey, who, as the dastardly, ruthless Olaf, wavers between creating a complete (and completely flamboyant) character and just pulling out gags and accents from his prodigious bag of tricks. It’s a mid-grade entertainment, a Dickensian tale child-proofed with some zany preposterousness, that’s distinguished by inventive design (including costumes by Colleen Atwood, an Oscar-nominated score by Thomas Newman, and cinematography by the great Emmanuel Lubezki) and a pitch-black sense of humor, not to mention a sporadically wise understanding of childhood grief.
What’s most interesting about Streep’s rare foray into the popular if not always fruitful realm of family movies is that the actress’ scenes aren’t the combined showcase that a star of her stature might reasonably expect. Instead, she’s just another merry member of a ragtag troupe and she therefore follows her fellow actors in the adult ensemble by enlivening her isolated screen time with ecstatic overstatement and shameless immaturity.
Cast as a bundle of irrational fears and nerves who teeters into the movie mid-narrative, Streep shrieks, shakes, and squints with the zest of a ham who rarely gets the opportunity to show this side of herself and is thus intent on feeding us as much clownery as she can. Her lopsided bun and rounded eyewear, perfect for housing and highlighting Streep’s often popping pupils, are tiny comic treats unto themselves, but there isn’t a ton of character detail, much less variation, for Streep to grab ahold of in her moments. Although the role is far larger than those of the truly wasted Cedric the Entertainer, Jennifer Coolidge, and Catherine O’Hara, Streep’s Aunt Josephine still ends up feeling underutilized, particularly in her spare interactions with Carrey, a tried-and-true ham who never really gets to stand toe-to-toe with his clearly eager scene partner. (I’d happily watch at least five more scenes of Aunt Josephine witlessly flirting with Carrey’s shiver-me-timbers seaman Captain Sham, one of Olaf’s numerous guises.) Does poor, terrified Aunt Josephine feel like a slightly missed opportunity to you?
JOHN: Considering that Aunt Josephine was chiefly a way for Streep to wear a funny wig to please her brood, I’d say she met this opportunity. Aunt Josephine is not a role that vies for Oscars, nor is it a star vehicle or psychological character study, but rather Streep’s chance to loosen up, have some fun, and make something that her young children would be interested in watching. As exciting as it is to watch Streep scream at Jane Lynch, be seduced by Olaf’s love of grammar, and fight off a horde of seafaring leeches, there’s nothing especially surprising in Streep’s performance, and even in her decision to do this small part. Streep’s expert comic skills had been on display throughout her entire career, from The Seduction of Joe Tynan to Heartburn to Postcards from the Edge to Death Becomes Her and Adaptation. Likewise, Streep — The Greatest Actress of Our Time — eschews vanity both in her disdain for her own celebrity and in the sometimes smallish roles she selects; she’s as happy to slink into an ensemble as she is headlining a prestige drama. As Aunt Josephine, Streep is a miniature, crowd-pleasing delight. She’s completely attuned to the film’s zany yet cynical tone, lending her chops to a box-office champion and accruing younger fans in the process. It may not be a top-tier act of thesping nor a surprise to anyone paying serious attention to her career, but it’s an amusing diversion nonetheless.
A Series of Unfortunate Events is first and foremost Carrey’s movie, but in the brief scenes he shares with Streep, the two share a zesty and compelling rapport, as when Carrey’s Olaf woos homely Aunt Josephine from her paranoid loneliness, or when the two are bartering for the children on the open sea. Streep so oftens plays well against comedians; they always seem to keep her on her toes, coaxing out the refreshing verve and spontaneity that these projects require. It’s a shame that Streep and Carrey aren’t afforded more scenes together, or that Streep doesn’t share any screen time with Coolidge and O’Hara, as she clearly excels at imaginative world-building with comic scene partners of all stripes and talents.
Reader, which comic do you dream of seeing Streep spar with?
Reader Comments (25)
I wish the overall film would have stuck closer to the books the way that the new Netflix series is doing but it was a welcome diversion for Streep and I loved that she was acting in a Jim Carrey movie/family film.
I feel like I am expecting an Aunt Josephine performance for her upcoming role as Topsy in Mary Poppins Returns but may be surprised. Full Trailer received a huge positive reaction at Comic - con and word has it that Meryl is wearing a “red fright wig”
The only good thing that resulted from this movie was that it led to Jim Carrey’s “Simply The Best” performance at Meryl’s AFI tribute.
#2 in her sort-of/not-really trilogy of films with Dustin Hoffman!
I saw this at the time and can't remember anything about it other than I thought Jim Carrey was pretty good after a couple of comedy duds. Had forgotten Meryl was in it! And don't remember any of the others either..
You can't blame her for taking the part: What if Maggie Smith had turned down the first Harry Potter movie? Projects like this and The Golden Compass feel like missteps in retrospect but who knows what will become the next megagazillion dollar franchise.
I forgot Jude Law was in this. Then I remembered that it was released in 2004 and...yeah. He was in everything that year.
There is an interview with the costume designer for this film who talks about how great Streep was to work with, and that she basically created her character through the costume design. I think her scenes are funny and it is the rare movie where I thought Jim Carrey did a great job and was perfectly cast.
I loved the black humour of the film, and found it a delight in terms of the casting and the production design. Jim Carrey was perfect in this and at the AFI tribute.
As for Meryl Streep as Aunt Josephine she is wonderfully hilarious. I enjoyed watching her send up her own persona here. Instead of being the intrepid lead who is fearless, she delights in being this nervous wreck of a (very) human being.
I agree with Hayden, these small parts can be absolute treasures for actors.
Kids films aren't for me so I haven't seen.
This is endless. Let's wrap this thing up and start discussing Queen Baranski or someone else.
Meryl Streep was fabulous in this; I far prefer her interpretation of Aunt Josephine to Alfre Woodard's in the Netflix series. (Woodard is a fabulous actress, but I think she was miscast).
In fact, I prefer just about all of the actors from the 2004 film, as well as the costumes and production design.
Zzz... : As long as the instant dud Pfeiffer-spective, Or whatever the title, doesn’t return...this is pretty good. If you think this bores you to sleep, the pfeiffer pfing will knock you dead.
The post analyzing Baranski's 30 second appearance in Miss Sloane is gonna be killer.
I love the writing of this series, but, yes, I agree there's some Streep fatigue going on here. She's not exciting to carry a whole year series, like Katharine Hepburn was. Are really there 1000 words to say about every single Streep performance? There is a lot of filler work in her career that just doesn't deserve this attention, like this one of this week.
whoa such negativity this week! Y'all do realize that you can skip episodes of whatever series you don't personally enjoy, right?
Yyyy -- sorry but if i can manage it, Pfandom will return as LaPfeiff is my personal favorite.
Mike -- i didn't like either version but agree that this one is better than the Netflix series (which i couldn't sit through. it just wasn't funny or visually new enough to stick with for multiple hours)
If you do not like Streep ... fine... we all have our favorites... just DO NOT READ the articles.
The rest of us cannot wait until Thursdays to read about a new movie she was in.
This series has been great! I didn't read the Katharine Hepburn series, because I don't find her that interesting (apart from a few great films), she was way too stiff and starchy, and she is from an era of filmmaking that is long gone. Streep is endlessly interesting because she is so adaptable. She also remarked that Jim Carrey was very generous, and the Colleen Atwood costumes here are divine.
Love this series as well as the Hepburn and Pfeiffer series. It's interesting to look at the arc of an actor's entire career rather than just individual films out of context. It's cool to see how they grew, where they succeed, where they stumble, which collaborators work (sometimes it's not who you'd expect), etc.
I love these series, too. I'd love to see them for just about every actress. How about Thelma Ritter, or Eva Marie Saint, or Natalie Wood? Or anyone really
Another offbeat career that might be interesting is Dorothy Malone. Do you realize that she played the love interest of both Tab Hunter (Battle Cry) and Liberace (Sincerely Yours) in the same year (1955)? Then in 1956 went on to pine for Rock Hudson in Written on the Wind (some kind of trifecta?) and win an Oscar for it to boot! And of course, in 1958 she went on to play Drew Barrymore's doomed (half-)aunt Diana in Too Much, Too Soon.
At one point Nat or another writer here mentioned their interest in doing a series on Jane Fonda, which would be really interesting, because she has worked during so many different eras in Hollywood (and America).
If you don’t like it- don’t read it. Streep is queen and is currently having an amazing decade!
Cal Roth - one man's meat is another's poison. I don't find Hepburn interesting at all as you Streep. So let's be respectful to the writers who have put in so much love and effort in creating and maintaining this series.
@Malcolm You are sooo right! Cal Roth feels he is somewhat superior to the rest of us and he shows ignorance rather often.
I so LOVED her in it. Simply hilarious from beginning to end. Even though still sad, but still... funny.
OMG! That house! She's afraid of everything and everyone (rightfully so as we learn) but she lives in THAT house!
Her reaction is so cute in the Outtakes, when the little Girl fell asleep during a take.
I've only read the first book, so I was irritated that the wedding wasn't up until the last part, but I must say they've done a good Job imo.
The beginning almost got me. *lol*
The end credits are great. I simply love the style. It's a film I have no problems watching it again and again.
Jim Carrey is also really awewsome. The whole cast was. His AFI Tribute to Meryl simply is to die for.
Meryl Streep is such a beautiful actress and specially her acting in lemony snickets;a series of unfortunate events was spectecular as a lady who was grammar-obsessed was so much amazing I always used to watch her movies as a child.Hell On Wheels Jacket